Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center is a 501(c)(3) organization. We are dedicated to protecting our air, water and open spaces. We investigate problems, craft solutions, educate the public and decision-makers, and help the public make their voices heard in local, state and national debates over the quality of our environment and our lives.

We should be able to power our lives without polluting our environment. We have the ability to produce and consume energy and still enjoy healthy communities — and give our children and their children a livable future. That’s why we’re calling on cities, universities, businesses, and our state governments to commit to 100% renewable energy.

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New governors are getting ready to take office in 20 states, from Florida to Alaska. As America’s newly elected governors prepare to take on their states’ biggest challenges, they should prioritize taking bold action on the greatest challenge of our time: climate change.

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Columbus, OH—From a solar zoo to an ultra-efficient new high school, Ohio is booming with success stories from its Clean Energy Law passed in 2008, according to a new report from Environment Ohio Research & Policy Center, Ohio’s Clean Energy Success Story: The Clean Energy Law Three Years In. The report found that between January 2009, when the law took effect, and December 2011 Ohio’s four largest utilities implemented energy efficiency programs that have saved enough electricity to power 267,000 Ohio homes for a year, and added enough of wind solar photovoltaic capacity between 2009 and 2012 to produce enough energy to power 95,000 Ohio homes.

Ohio’s Clean Energy Law is delivering on its promise of improved energy efficiency and increased production of clean, renewable electricity—reducing Ohio’s dependence on coal and natural gas power plants, which harm public health and the state’s environment. The Clean Energy Law—Senate Bill 221—was passed in 2008 and sets requirements for energy efficiency and renewable energy for each of the state’s four investor-owned utilities (IOUs).

Columbus, OH—Global temperatures are rising at a faster rate than at any time in the last 11,000 years, according to a new study published today in the science journal Nature. This report builds on numerous other studies that have made it clear that global warming is real, it is already starting to have devastating effects on our communities, and those effects will only grow worse unless we cut emissions of the carbon pollution fueling global warming.

For the last several years, Ohio’s largest utility has been the state’s biggest opponent of clean energy. Below are the top ten examples of FirstEnergy’s pattern of bias against Ohio’s clean energy future.

COLUMBUS – A week after the dumping of at least 20,000 gallons of toxic and potentially radioactive fracking waste into the Mahoning River by Hard Rock Excavating, state regulators have yet to disclose information about the quantity of waste and the chemicals involved. Environmental advocates are urging the state to act quickly to prosecute the perpetrator and look beyond the one incident to take more aggressive steps to protect the state’s public health and environment from future threats.

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New carbon pollution standards will help protect our health. Environment Ohio Research and Policy Center is working to demonstrate broad public support for commonsense standards to protect our environment and our health.